BIOGRAPHY
Anthony C. Martin
(21 February 1942 –
17 January 2013)
Known as Professor Tony Martin, was a historian, author, and Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. He is regarded as the pre-eminent expert on the life and work of Marcus Garvey.
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Professor Martin’s education and work took him around the world. He qualified as a barrister-at-law at the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn (London) in 1965, did a B.Sc. honours degree in economics at the University of Hull (England), and an M.A. and later a Ph.D. in history at Michigan State University. He taught at the Cipriani Labour College (Trinidad), St. Mary's College (Trinidad), and the University of Michigan-Flint, before beginning his work at Wellesley College.
Professor Martin taught at Wellesley from 1973 to 2007, during which time he was awarded tenure. He was a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota, Brandeis University, Brown University, and The Colorado College. Professor Martin spent a year as an honorary research fellow at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad.
Professor Martin lectured in many countries. He spoke to university and general audiences all over the United States and Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Australasia, and South America. In 1990 he delivered the annual DuBois/Padmore/Nkrumah Pan-African lecture in Ghana. In 2004 he was one of the principal speakers at the First Conference of Intellectuals of Africa and the Diaspora, which was sponsored by the African Union in Senegal.
Professor Martin established his own publishing company, The Majority Press, through which he published many of his own books, and the work of other authors. He wrote, compiled and/or edited 14 books including Amy Ashwood Garvey: Pan-Africanist, Feminist and Mrs. Marcus Garvey No. 1, Or, A Tale of Two Amies (2007), Literary Garveyism: Garvey, Black Arts and the Harlem Renaissance (1983), and the classic study of the Garvey Movement, and his seminal text Race First: the Ideological and Organizational Struggles of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1976).
Professor Martin's articles and reviews have appeared in the Journal of Negro History; Journal of African American History; American Historical Review; African Studies Review; Washington Post Book World; Journal of Caribbean History; Journal of American History; Black Books Bulletin; Jamaica Journal; Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East; and many others.
Professor Martin’s writings can be found in several reference works and encyclopedias including the UNESCO General History of the Caribbean, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, American National Biography, the Encyclopedia of African American Business History, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. He received numerous academic and community awards, including a grant from the American Philosophical Society. Professor Martin reviewed articles and programs for scholarly journals including the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Austrian Science Fund. His biographical listings can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who Among America's Teachers, Personalities Caribbean, Who's Who Among African Americans, and elsewhere. He was also a reviewer and consultant for publishers, and served as an expert witness for Congressional hearings.
Professor Martin, and was a featured guest on the Marcus Garvey episode of BBC Radio 4’s Great Lives, which aired in 2005.
Professor Martin passed away unexpectedly in Trinidad & Tobago on 17th January 2013, he was 70 years old. He is survived by his son, Shabaka, who was the light of his life.